The midfielder called for tougher action by UEFA to tackle racism, which has been a longstanding problem in the game despite regular campaigns by European football’s ruling body.

“I think UEFA need to do something strong. It would be nice if we could stop that… Every time we say something it continues, something has to be done to stop it,” Toure said.

Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Toure as suggesting a stadium ban for CSKA in European competition “for a couple of years or maybe a couple of months” — long enough that “the club will decide: ‘OK, we have to educate the fans.”

He also raised the prospect of teams boycotting the 2018 World Cup in Russia if the issue of racism wasn’t dealt with.